iPhone 13 Pro external SSD too much power

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Level 3

576 points

iPhone 13 Pro external SSD too much power

Hi all,

I thought I bought all the right pieces to do this, and I see videos of it working. No matter what I do, I still get the error.

I have a Sandisk 1TB external SSD drive. I just bought the Apple Lightning to USB 3 Camera adapter. Connecting to an iPhone 13 Pro.

This configuration tells me the device is using too much power. I have tried powering the adapter with a 30W MacBook power brick, multiple 20W bricks, and a portable charger. I even I tried a powered USB hub. No luck - they all charge the phone, and work with the other drives, but give the same error on the SanDisk no matter what I do.

The adapter works perfectly with my wife's WD 1TB SSD drive (also AFPS format). It works perfectly with a flash drive (ExFat). It's just this one drive that fails. I've seen videos of this exact drive working fine with this adapter.

Even though I know my cables are fine, I've tried alternates. Short ones, long ones, Apple brand, other brands.

Note that I use this SanDisk drive daily with my iPad Pro and my MacBook Pro, so it's not defective. In fact it's incredibly fast, even on the iPad.

Anyone have any ideas? I could swap drives with my wife, or just give up and return the adapter. I'd really like it to work with my new SanDisk drive though.

Posted on Nov 10, 2022 10:33 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 12, 2022 3:28 PM in response to AndreTheGeek

Good day to you AndreTheGeek,

If you haven't already before plugging all of it back in, restart your iPhone with no adapters plugged in which will give it a fresh start: Restart your iPhone - Apple Support

1. Press and hold either volume button and the side button until the power-off slider appears.

2. Drag the slider, then wait 30 seconds for your device to turn off. If your device is frozen or unresponsive, force restart your device.

3. To turn your device back on, press and hold the side button (on the right side of your iPhone) until you see the Apple logo.

Could you tell us if the external hard drive has an option to be powered outside of the adapter? You mentioned the external is working fine with iPadOS and macOS, have you confirmed with the manufacturer that it indeed will work with iOS? We’ve got three different operating systems in use here, so we want to be sure. Or, can we test it with another iOS device to isolate?

Thanks.

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Answer 2

AndreTheGeek Author

Level 3

576 points

Nov 12, 2022 3:37 PM in response to Nicholas_B2

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I had tried restarting a few times with no luck.

The drive does not have a power-supply option, and that's why I bought the Apple USB 3 to Lightning Camera Adapter. The vendor makes no claims as to it being compatible with iPhones, but I had seen it work on a YouTube video. I have since found other YouTube videos now where it does not work while other drives do, so it seems to be the luck of the draw.

I did test the drive and adapter with a non-Pro iPad with Lightning connector, also with no luck. It appears I got on e of the drives that's not compatible.

I have given up, and returned the adapter to Apple. I will get by without it.

Thanks

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Answer 3

Neil22R

Community Specialist

Nov 12, 2022 6:20 PM in response to AndreTheGeek

Hello AndreTheGeek,

You are most welcome.

Cheers.

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iPhone 13 Pro external SSD too much power

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